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Airbus is in the electric airplane business for at least the medium
term and the next few years could see the first flight of a BAE 146
regional jet converted to fly on electric power. Ken McKenzie, senior
VP of strategy and corporate development for Airbus, said what started
with a quirky rear-engine ducted fan demonstrator called the E-Fan
could be headed for full-scale development into a product line of
electric aircraft. That, he said, depends on shareholder support and
regulators but he noted that “fossil fuels aren’t going to last
forever.” In the immediate future, the company plans to fly a
pilot-flown single-seat tilt-rotor and an autonomous four-place
quadcopter.

The E-Fan project, which flew on about 30 kilowatts of power, managed
a carefully orchestrated crossing of the English Channel two years
ago. That project ended in favor of an electric-powered Extra 300 with
about 300 kilowatts of power. Next is the regional airliner with a
fuselage-mounted generator putting out two to three megawatts of power
to energize wing-mounted motors. McKenzie said the company doesn’t
know where it will all lead but it intends to be a player in electric
propulsion.

Podcast: Airbus's Electric Future
By Russ Niles

Airbus believes electric aircraft, including airliners, are the future
and it's taking a leadership role in their development. Ken McKenzie,
the company's senior VP of strategy and corporate development,
discussed what that future might look at in an interview at AirVenture
2017. https://cdn.avweb.com/media/podcast/...nzieairbus.mp3